Intimate Conversation with the BSURE Book Club

Intimate Conversation with the BSURE Book Club
(Brothers and Sisters United for Reading Enjoyment)

BPM: Give us a little history on your organization. How many members do you have?
BSURE Book Club (Brothers and Sisters United for Reading Enjoyment)
was founded in 2003. We began as 7 members and currently stand with 18
members strong. We are based out of Dallas and meet at various places
throughout the metroplex.

BPM: What type of activities do you enjoy as a group? Do you travel?
As a group, we have two special annual events. One is our Annual
Social where we meet as a group, not to discuss a book, but to have fun
as friends. In the past, we have enjoyed jazz concerts together as well
as a day at the movies. Also, we have our Annual Christmas party in
December, and to this day, every year is an amazing fun time of gift
sharing and games together. We have not travelled together as of yet,
but the more we continue to grow, we hope to add travelling into our
yearly activities.

BPM: Is there anything you would love to see more of in literature and TV?
There should be more stories of plus size or the "not so perfect" size
person finding love. Also, we need more brothers and sisters portrayed
on
TV as something other than pimps, and hookers - bring on more positive
images of Black America.

BPM: How do you feel about electronic books, such as downloads for Kindle, Nook, or iPad, etc.?
While it's understood that technology continues to advance, we still
need our hardcover books. We will continue to read them and it is a
concern that electronic books may cause some authors to not be
financially successful and may decrease the need to even go to the
public libraries.

BPM: Do you believe a character's culture, sexual orientation or religion are important to understanding
their point-of-view in a novel? Why?
A character's culture helps us to understand their point-of-view
because we are all different. Some of us have opinions of what we think a
person should or should not do. We often times do not give people a
chance that are different from us. Everyone has a right to be heard, but
that doesn't mean that everyone has to agree with their point-of-view.
It just means we are all different.

BPM: What impact has reading or being in an organized group had on your life?
Our members feel that being in a group of this size has had a great
impact. Some feel they have grown by hearing the different
perspectives on books that the members have. While others enjoy being
around people of different backgrounds and being able to get out of the
house for some relaxing fun.